A Few Tips This Veganuary

Jan 01, 2020by Julie - F&F

We're proudly vegan here at F&F as are all of our products.

Some of you may have made the decision to become vegan this veganuary or even do it longer term. It can be daunting knowing where to start so we've pulled together some information to help. 

 

According to a Global Data report, 70% of people are eating less or no meat. People are opting for more plant-based meals due to ethics, environmental impacts or health reasons. In the last five years, the number of vegan products in Australia has almost tripled and Australia is the third fastest-growing vegan market. In January 2019 250,000 people from 159 countries signed up for Veganuary, an increase of 49% in 2018, this year the target is 350,000. Every person taking part helps; did you know 30% of the earth's land is used to farm animals and agriculture is one of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gases and deforestation. 

To help you along this Veganuary we have listed websites, places we love eating, markets and other advice to help you. If anyone else has other great resources, or feedback, let us know and we’ll keep updating this.

Our top tips for making the switch….

  1. Know why you are going vegan and keep remembering that and referring to it when times are tough. 
  2. Keep a food diary of what you currently eat and what you could replace it with.
  3. Eating is supposed to be fun and not a punishment; if you don’t like raw protein balls (or whatever it is) don’t eat them.
  4. Find a friend. It’s much easier if you switch as a household, or at least not on your own, so see if you can do it with someone or you have someone to support you. There are some great Facebook groups that can act as support.
  5. Look at other aspects of your life like beauty, clothing, shoes, sofas…it’s endless. But don’t fret, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just be consciously kind when you buy something.
  6. Get out to markets and events and get inspired, along with eating some really good food and finding new, innovative, products. 

@thrivingonplants

@thrivingonplants

What do I eat and won’t I miss chocolate and cheese?

There are so many choices for food nowadays if you look. Our advice is to get a good vegan cookbook and look at what you are going to replace your staples with. There is a great resource with recipes here. If in doubt avo on toast with tomato is a winner! 

Coles, Woolies, Aldi, IGA and Tesco, Walmart, Amazon Fresh (for those of you overseas) all have vegan options. Coles and Woolworths in Australia have really increased their vegan range in the last year, 

If you are looking for amazing vegan sausages and burgers Suzy Spoons is a favourite of ours. We haven’t found anything better yet and they deliver to NSW, VIC, QLD, and ACT.

Dominos and Hungry Jacks do have vegan options also - we love that more mainstream places are coming round to the fact we want options. 

At Flora & Fauna, we have lots of vegan lollies, chocolate, snacks, mac n cheez, and some really great nut mylks and mayo and aioli alternatives in our Vegan Pantry

There is some food that is accidentally vegan. Yes, some Oreos, Doritos and Arnott's biscuits are vegan. Not healthy but vegan and we never said vegan was healthy. :-) 

Some alternatives we love….

Milk…..Rice Milk and Almond Milk are our favourites. I use rice milk with my Nuzest powder and it is delicious!

Cheese…we are utterly obsessed with Dilectio cheese. The Vegan Dairy is a good choice for those of you in Melbourne. You can find where these cheeses are stocked on their stockiest page on their website. If you’re overseas google nut cheese or vegan cheese. 

Chocolate & Lollies….hard to give up but really important. We have loads of chocolate at F&F, and being a chocoholic, it is very much approved. Pana Chocolate and Loving Earth are all certified organic chocolate brands that are 100% vegan. Delicious too. For lollies we have JOM, Dandies and J Luehders - these don't have gelatine which is often found in jelly lollies. 

Souls, Copenhagen

Great Places to Eat

I’m afraid this is a little Aussie centric but we really only want to recommend those we’ve tried and these are good!

Sydney

Yellow… If you fancy something fancy this is a vegetarian/ vegan restaurant with a really good vegan tasting menu. 

Cafe Sydney... Not a vegan restaurant but they cater brilliantly and have an amazing vegan menu so if you really want to push the boat out they score well. 

Soul Burger... Their burgers are good, very good, and they have locations around Sydney in Glebe, Randwick, Newtown and Parramatta. 

Lord of the Fries... They are a chain and make good burgers and fast food. You wouldn't know their burgers are vegan but they are. Their website shows you where they are located which is around Australia and in New Zealand too. 

Melbourne

Smith & Daughters... In the heart of Fitzroy, we love this place. Great cocktails too! 

Shakahari Too... delicious and a really interesting menu. In South Melbourne with a beautiful interior. We went with non-vegans who loved it so great for all. 

 

There are so many more so this Timeout guide is a good place to start. 

Copenhagen, Denmark

Souls... Now there aren't too many vegan options in Copenhagen but two Aussies have changed that by creating this amazing cafe with tasty food. It's a decent walk from the city centre but worth it. 

New York

You're spoilt here in that vegan food is everywhere. I was wandering through Greenwich and this little hole in the wall cafe sold vegan mac n' cheese. On Wall Street, there's a vegan fast food place and most restaurants have options. One place I really loved was called Candle Cafe on 3rd Avenue. It's relaxed and all vegan. I went there for lunch and it was great for passing the hours. They have other places too and an upmarket restaurant. 

What About Social Media?

Facebook groups are a good place to start and you can get a lot of advice from other members. Two we follow are….

Vegan Support Australia and New Zealand

Vegan Beauty Australia and New Zealand

Instagrammers are a great port of call when it comes to food. There are lots and lots and @thrivingonplants is one of our favourites.  

Go to Markets

Sydney Vegan Market is monthly, there’s live entertainment, eco shopping and lots of food places and restaurants are there too.

Others in Australia that happen during the year include…..

VIC

Big Vegan Market – May

World Vegan Day Melbourne - Oct/ Nov

NSW

Sydney Vegan Market  - Monthly

Alive Festival, Gosford - March

ACT

The Earth Festival – April

Living Green Festival  - Oct

Other great sources to look at include….

The Vegan Society

Vegans Australia

Veganuary...a really good source of info and food. 

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